I"m pretty good at grounding - I'm the Woman who Made Friends With Electricity - I can ground better than I shield. I wear a lot of magical bric-a-brac, and at least one of my tattoos is the on switch for a shield. I'm not really good at striking out "offensively". And I have absolutely no ability to heal people or animals, but I'm really great at healing machinery. (And also at diagnosing it.

The mad swordsmith was actually a Vietnam vet whose PTSD got tangled in his magic. He died of some kind of cancer related to having been exposed to Agent Orange. But, gods, when his magic was in full flare he was MAGNIFICENT!